The young McLaren driver moved up from P6 on the grid to his best ever career result in an official Formula 1 race for P2.
After a less than ideal Qualifying session on Friday at a track where he was racing for the first time, where he had his final lap attempt deleted, the Australian had a very positive Sprint Saturday, where he took his first win in the chaotic 19-lap showdown.
A very strong race start, aided by the Mercedes drivers crashing, allowed him to be in P2 after the first race lap, the position he ultimately ended the race in. Piastri explained the situation he caught himself in at the race start in the final press conference of the weekend:
“Hit the brakes at the right time, and watch everyone else go off! Yeah, honestly, it was as simple as that. I don’t really know what happened. Obviously, saw some cars spinning and whatever else but, yeah, the heavens kind of just parted way for me and through to second I went.”
Photo Credits: McLaren Racing
The 2021 Formula 2 Champion was extremely pleased with his first ever outing in Qatar and his growth throughout the days, as he said:
“It’s been pretty exceptional, to be honest. I think Friday was difficult. You know, obviously a bit disappointed after Qualifying on Friday, but yesterday went as close to perfect as it could have. And today, I think second was probably the most we could have done.”
“So, yeah, very, very happy. Exciting weekend, a lot of progress made. And yeah, I think you know, just very proud of that. As a team and also for myself personally, that we’ve managed to get the most out of what our car’s been capable of.
It’s a second double podium in a row for McLaren, but the positive streak came as a result of two vastly different races. In Japan Piastri had mentioned a lack of race pace, at Lusail the drivers as a result of the compulsory three stops were free to push flat out for all the 57 race laps.
Due to the nature of the limitations at this event, the Australian is fully aware he still needs to make gains in tyre management.
“A little bit. I think still some improvements to make. I think this race was very different to Japan, obviously with three stops, I think we were basically pushing flat out for the whole race. So, it’s a very different kind of race. But, I think, still some work to go.”
“I mean, it was just a different kind of tyre deg. I think it was much more front limited this weekend. I think the front left and trying to protect that was by far the biggest thing. So yeah, just a different learning experience, I guess. But still good to have it in the bank.”
A peculiar situation in the race happened when his more experienced teammate Lando Norris, after an impressive recovery drive as well from P10 to right behind him in third, asked the team to allow them to race after he was told to hold position.
However, McLaren denied it, allowing Piastri to improve his best Formula 1 career result. The young driver commented on the team decision, stating he was “surprised” by it:
“I was a little bit surprised to be honest. I would have accepted it either way. But obviously there was a lot of concerns about tyres and track limits and stuff. So yeah, I think getting second and third for the team was the most important thing.”
If Red Bull’s dominant run was hindered by the shortened stints, which didn’t allow Verstappen in the lead to take advantage of the brilliant tyre management with the RB19, the winner of the Sprint Race in Qatar was sure that it had definitely aided him and Norris, as they were able to push “just like in qualifying” rather than having to nurse their tyres:
“I think it probably helped us rather than hindered. I think it ended up in a race where we could push flat out the whole time or very close to, which I don’t think I’ve been able to say in an F1 race before. So, I think it probably helped us a bit.
“The Red Bull normally is a step ahead in terms of tyre degradation maybe we didn’t see that as much today with the rules. But I think also our car pace this weekend has been very strong. So I think that’s also been another factor.”
